It’s been an interesting seven days since the Proteas gave England a little scare (but not really) at Newlands. Well, on the South African side at least. Every pundit, scribe and fan with a Twitter account has had a say on the captaincy, injuries, workloads, the pitch, and even the state of the domestic game in South Africa. And now I’ll have mine.

The captaincy

A change in Test captain is usually a big thing, a big disruptive thing. But in this unusual case I believe the timing of the change and the quality of the people involved could actually galvanise the South Africans.

In Hashim Amla I see peace, not resentment. During his time as captain he spoke a lot about leading by example, and he has set another fantastic one in the manner, timing and class of his resignation.

In AB de Villiers I see enthusiasm, not self-satisfaction. He has already captained his country in ODIs, he has the support of the outgoing skipper and the current squad, and he really, really wants the job.

And in the rest of the squad I see respect, not doubt. Only one man can be captain, but Amla and de Villiers are both leaders, are both inspirational, and the players will play out of their skins for both of them.

The batting unit

Stephen Cook remains overlooked, despite scoring another century during the week, and Rilee Rossouw has been released to play domestic cricket. Stiaan van Zyl looks set to retain his position at the top of the order.

If not van Zyl, then from the current squad who? Surely Temba Bavuma has earned the right to cement his spot in the middle order, and surely Quinton de Kock is no more a long-term solution than Cook. Even with age on his side, de Kock will struggle to open and keep wicket for longer than Cook (only just 33) could conceivably do a job.

If van Zyl plays, then Elgar, Amla, de Villiers, du Plessis, Bavuma and de Kock pick themselves, presumably in that order.

The bowling unit

Dane Piedt has been released to play domestic cricket, so now the only question is which four fast bowlers will play. I’m sure Piedt is still the Proteas’ first-choice spinner, but circumstances have conspired against him in this case.

I presume the pitch played a part in the decision, and the groundsman better hope that Moeen Ali is wholly ineffective for all five days, but I think the real reason for Piedt’s omission is the lack of proven quality in the fit and able fast-bowling stocks.

If Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel were all fit and firing, I believe the selectors would’ve backed them to take care of the bulk of the business, with Piedt chipping in for three days and then possibly, hopefully providing an additional attacking edge on day four and/or five. However, with Steyn and Philander still injured, I don’t think the selectors see three reliable options out of Morkel, Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen, so they’ll play it safe and pick four, at Piedt’s expense.

If taken, I would begrudgingly agree with this decision on this occasion, and can only hope that Piedt grabs a bag for the Cobras and spends his down-time studying footage of Nathan Lyon bowling for Australia – I don’t know quite how he’s done it, but Lyon has become a very good Test bowler, in all conditions, and hopefully Piedt will one day do the same.

Picking four fast bowlers means leaving one out and it will probably be Abbott, because Morkel is the only bowler with more than six Tests under his boots; Rabada is the future, now; Morris can bat at eight and field at third and fourth slip at the same time; and Viljoen is apparently very, very fast.

Wildcard selections

JP Duminy may have scored 260* for the Cobras during the week, but bizarrely it could be his part-time off-spin, in Piedt’s absence, that earns him a recall. The only way I see it happening is at van Zyl’s expense with de Kock opening the batting, and hopefully that’s very unlikely. Such a selection would send inconsistent messages to several players in and outside the squad, and would smell like desperation to the England camp.

And what of England?

Well, while the South African selectors have been earning their pay the English team is picking itself. I suspect that meeting was simply a case of “Are all who played at Newlands present and well? Marvellous, same again please.”

Now let’s just hope the weather holds.